RE: EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLING BY OHAOZARA VIGILANTE IN OKPOSI, OHAOZARA LGA: A CASE OF UNPROFESSIONAL, DISORGANISED SECURITY PERSONNEL, BEN CHUKWUEBUKA WRITES:
First, I must condole with the family of Chukwudi Daniel from Aninri LGA, Enugu State, who met his sudden death in the hands of an untrained gangster where he attended a burial wake in Okposi on the 16th of April 2021. May his soul rest in peace and may God grant his family the fortitude to bear the loss.
Having said that, I find it nauseating that a supposedly UK-trained lawyer, Barr. Silas Joseph Onu, could condescend to make a baseless allegations against the person of the Chairman of Ohaozara LGA, Princess Nkechinyere Iyioku without recourse to the truth. The saddest reality is an attempt to gain public sympathy using the death of his fellow human being whose family members are still in pains over the unfortunate incident.
Inasmuch as I would have allowed the issues raised by Barr. Onu and his strangled party to die naturally, there is need to set the records straight. This is to avoid giving the Chairman a bad name in order to discredit her.
It is on record that just like many Governors in Nigeria have noted, there is no state Governor or LGA Chairman that has control over bandits, criminality and evil in its entirety- the Ohaozara LGA Chairman is not an exception.
Recall that the Chairman, Princess Nkechinyere Iyioku, has on several occasion put in measures to curtail criminality in her domain. She has ensured that the Police and Vigilante are adequately funded and their operational vehicles maintained.
The allegations of Barr. Onu is thus, a mischievous and infantile attempt to create discord where none existed. In developed countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and others with advanced security gadgets, they have not yet stamped acts of criminality. There are still pockets of crimes almost on daily basis.
The issue of cultism and other related crimes has been there before Princess Iyioku, took over as the Chairman of the local government area. As a concerned leader, she has mobilized other stakeholders to organize a trek tagged "Okposi Walk Against Cultism" which started from Court Area and ended at Eke Okposi Market Square years ago.
Now to the issue at stake, investigations have shown that Hossanah Ajah, aka Don Chester, from Umuakuma, a neighbouring community to Mebiokpa where the unfortunate incident happened, was compelled to return to his hometown in January this year (2021). His return was connected to his penchant for criminal life and acts. Thus, when the heat was much, as the security agents beeped their torchlights on him, he escaped to the village to seek refuge.
For clarity, harrassment of the locals by cultists in Okposi has become a norm as no week passes without reports of such harrassments especially during public functions. In some of the cases reported to the Chairman, she set in motion mechanisms to tackle it and restore order and ensure that justice is done. And I ask Barr. Onu and his cohorts, is it wrong for a leader to seek for justice for her subjects?
Let it be on note that at no time was Hossanah Ajah a member of the Ohaozara Vigilante not to talk of being in the payroll of the Chairman. At most, he should be among the cultists terrorizing the locals.
If the claims of Barr. Silas Joseph Onu is not a figment of his imaginations, why would other Vigilante members arrest him (Hossanah Ajah) and hand him over to the Police instead of aiding him to escape? Secondly, why would a recruiter not have the name of somebody working for her in her schedule? These questions and more invalidates the claims of Barr. Silas Joseph Onu to either wear the tag of Publicity Secretary of any responsible party in Ebonyi State or outside, except for a party of expired politicians like the PDP.
Barr. Joseph Onu further asked, "if the culprit was not a member of her vigilante, how did he come to be in possession of a double barrel gun distributed by the government?"
Should it not be proper to posit that the "unlearned barrister" is living in the moon. If he is living in any part of the Eastern states, he should be conversant with the activities of the Unknown Gun Men whose sole aim is to dispossess security agents and Vigilante of their arms. But, his parochial dispositions are forgiven.
Again, he asked, "Can she attest to the suitability of those in the authentic list to carry arms without using same indiscriminately to hurt and kill innocent persons?"
This is most laughable. Let it be known to Barr. Joseph Onu that Derek Chauvin, the Police cop that killed George Floyd was given the best of trainings that America could afford. Let me remind Barr. Onu again that the word "accidental discharge" has been in the Nigerian lexicon for over a century. Can the state vouch for the people recruited? Yes. Can the state determine how they act when they are in the field? No. Except if Barr. Joseph Onu is alluding that Princess Iyioku is omnipresent and omniscent which are two attributes of God except he wants to commit blasphemy.
If not that Barr. Joseph Onu is out for mischief, he should have known that members of the Ebonyi State Neighbourhood Watch and Vigilante are usually trained by the Nigeria Police, DSS and others before they can operate. But, he would not make enquiries before pouring unnecessary vituperations. Sir, disclosing of security information is inimical to any society especially with the current state of things in Ebonyi and South East. Kindly make out time and approach the right sources for the information you seek.
One would have expected that the PDP and its hierarchy in Ebonyi would have grown up from dissipating unnecessary energies just to curry public sympathy. Sadly, they have not. Just like a spoilt child, they are always crying wolf where none exist. May I allay Barr. Silas Joseph Onu and his trojan horses' fears that unlike the PDP, the APC will not witchhunt anybody, even the Governor's opponents as they are all Ebonyians and Nigerians. That they disagree politically is not reason to go after them.
Finally, members of the Vigilante in Ohaozara LGA are properly profiled with their names, families and villages of origin as well as their source of living are well known to the security operatives. At their (security operatives) request, they would be made available even at the slightest notification.
I enjoin Barr. Silas Joseph Onu to join hands to build Ohaozara LGA and Ebonyi State politically and economically rather than being an agent of destabilization. For in building, we all gain. But, in destroying, we all lose.
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